Gardner Minshew to Serve as Jaguars Backup QB Against Vikings
Gardner Minshew will be active for the first time since Oct. 25 when the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Minnesota Vikings this afternoon.
Minshew has missed the last four games with a thumb injury, being included on the inactive list every week in the process. Now, Minshew is healthy and will serve as Mike Glennon's backup as rookie quarterback Jake Luton heads to the inactive list.
Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone announced on Wednesday that Glennon would start for the 1-10 squad in Week 13 over a healthy Minshew. Glennon made his first start with the Jaguars in Week 12 vs. the Cleveland Browns.
"I talked to [Offensive Coordinator] Jay [Gruden] and I spoke to [Quarterbacks Coach] Ben [McAdoo] and obviously we met offensively remotely on moving forward who gives us the best chance to win right now, today, so we’re going to go with Mike Glennon," Marrone said.
"Mike will go into this next game [as the starter] and we just feel like he gives us the best opportunity and thought he did some really good things last week and hopefully we can build on them and move forward.”
Glennon completed 20-of-35 passes (57.1%) for 235 yards (6.7 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns in the 27-25 loss to the Browns. Other than two poorly executed passes on two-point conversions, Glennon played a mistake-free game and kept the Jaguars in it. Glennon had the 10th-best completion percentage over expectation in Week 12, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
It was unclear earlier in the week who would be Glennon's backup this weekend after Luton was the backup in Week 12. Minshew was inactive in Week 12, but the two roles have now reversed.
Through seven games Minshew has completed 65.9% of his passes for 1,855 yards (6.9 yards per attempt) with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions, giving him a quarterback rating of 94.4. He is 1-6 as a starter this season after going 6-6 as a rookie starter in 2019.
On Oct. 29, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Minshew had multiple fractures and a strained ligament in his right thumb. He didn't tell the team about his injury until after a Week 7 loss, despite first feeling pain in his thumb in Jacksonville's Oct. 11 loss to the Texans.
This is the first game Minshew will serve as a backup for the Jaguars since Week 13 last season. Minshew entered that game in halftime to replace a benched Nick Foles.
Luton started three games in Minshew's absence, all losses. Luton completed 54.5% of his passes for 624 yards (5.7 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns with six interceptions. He threw four interceptions in Week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, leading to Glennon getting the start. Luton will now revert back to his early-season role as an inactive player.
